


The Closer We Get, The Brighter It Is

by Bug_jpeg



Category: Septiplier - Fandom, Youtube RPF
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Jack and Mark aren't youtubers au, M/M, Septiplier - Freeform, Soulmate AU, Soulmate Color AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-30
Updated: 2016-09-30
Packaged: 2018-08-18 16:46:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8168897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bug_jpeg/pseuds/Bug_jpeg
Summary: Jack has been seeing everything in grey scale his entire life until a certain trip changes everything.
That one soulmate au where the closer you are to your soulmate, the more aware of them you become. Colors get brighter the closer you are and fade to grey when they’re too far away





	

The entirety of Jack’s life had been grey. Every color he saw was just another shade of grey. The sky was light grey, the trees were dark grey, his skin was such a light shade of grey it was almost white. It seemed like everyone around him was living their lives in vibrant color, colors Jack was scared he would never know. Maybe there were complications in his birth? Maybe he didn’t even have a soulmate like everyone else in the world did. Thinking about that possibility while seeing happy couples of all kinds holding hands in the streets made him sick.

Jack longed for someone special in his life. Sure he had his family and friends, but all they wanted to do was stay with their significant others. The farther you get away from your soulmate, the less vibrant colors become. Seeing color could almost be compared to being addicted to a drug. Once people got a taste, they couldn’t live without it. No wonder people couldn’t keep their hands of each other. He wanted to feel the famed rush of euphoria that his mother talked about when she first met Jack’s dad in person, or the relief his best friend felt when he finally tied the knot with Jack’s sister. Any time he tried to get close to a girl, his world didn’t change.

He silently trudged home, just in time to get a long distance call from one of his online friends overseas. Mark and Jack had met over some common interests and had chatted online for years before actually exchanging phone numbers and switching to texting instead. Jack answered the phone with almost no hesitation. “Hey, Mark! How’s it going bro?”

“Jack! Hi!” Mark’s excitement could practically be felt through the phone. “So I remember you had a birthday a few days ago, and I have a great surprise for you. If UPS tracking didn’t fail me, I’m pretty sure it’s in your mailbox now.”

“Aw, dude, you didn’t have to get me anything!” Jack practically sprinted to the mailbox outside his door. Sure enough, right on top of all the bills was a letter in Mark’s neat print that Jack had grown to love. He tore it open and found two tickets, one from Ireland to LA and the other a returning flight 10 days later. Tears began to well up in Jack’s eyes. “M-Mark? Did you really...are these real?”

Mark chuckled. “As real as they can be. I had to save up for a really long time, but it was worth it. I remembered you talking about having a paid vacation off work in a few days, so I thought maybe you’d like to finally meet in person...If you don’t want to, that’s okay, I understand if-”

“Dude, are you kidding me?” Jack ran back into the house and started doing laundry immediately. “Of course I’m coming! And I’ve never been to America before, so you have to show me around!”

“That was the plan, ya big goof.” Jack could almost swear he heard Mark’s relief. “Call me before you leave and when you land so I can find you in the big, scary airport.”

 

…………………………………………………………………………….

 

While boarding the plane to LA 3 days later, Jack noticed something very odd. His jeans, rather than looking faded grey, looked barely navy blue. He dismissed it as his eyes playing tricks on him as the color was hardly there. After boarding, Jack let himself fall asleep for most of the 11 hour flight. Upon waking up with 2 hours left to go, the small Irishman had the biggest visual migraine ever. He could barely open his eyes without feeling the shooting pain. When he finally opened his eyes he was faced with the back of a...tan seat? When he had boarded, Jack had sworn the seats were grey, just like everything else. Looking around, he realized everything had a slight color tinge to it. The woman next to him was wearing a grey blouse, but her buttons were pink, just like her shoes. Jack looked down at his hoodie, his  _ blue _ hoodie, and navy jeans. His family had told him that his hoodie was blue, but he was only just now seeing it. 

“Let me guess.” The woman in pink next to him spoke and Jack turned to face her. “You’re seeing color now, right?”

Jack swallowed hard. “How did you know?”

She gave him a friendly smile, her accent thick and bold with every word. “I was in your same place once. I met a man overseas and we exchanged letters so often, I had fallen in love for sure. While I was on the plane for the first time, I gradually started seeing color, and when I finally saw him, it was like time stopped.” Her...green eyes were fixed on Jack’s and didn’t move. “The sheer amount of color I had been missing hit me like a brick to the face. What I’m trying to say is, I know you probably thought you didn’t have a soulmate, so this is shocking to you.”

He nodded, then cringed. “Yeah, but I fell asleep, so keeping my eyes open to see the color hurts like hell.”

“Here.” She dug around in her bag and pulled out a small packet with two pills inside. “I always get these from the flight attendant, just in case. They make things specifically for this.” She handed him the packet and her untouched plastic cup of water, which Jack graciously accepted. 

“Thank you so much.” The woman just smiled at him.

“It’s no trouble at all. I hope you find them.”

 

…………………………………………………………………………….

 

By the time the plane landed, Jack could barely contain himself. He was seeing everything in color for the first time, and he felt like a kid in a candy store, and the colors became clearer with every step he took. With the way things were looking, Jack had a sinking feeling his soulmate was in this airport. He was so caught up in his feverish search that he forgot to call Mark, who at this time was frantically searching for Jack.

Jack had to rely on his new sense of color to play this awkward game of hot and cold. He set his pace to a fast walk and started heading to bag pickup, which seemed to be in the general direction of where the colors got brighter. 

While looking around, he grabbed his bag in the middle of his quest and made his way towards the guest waiting area. So his soulmate was waiting for someone here...he thought while making his way through the crowds of people holding signs. While politely squeezing through a family of 7, Jack smacked into a figure and almost fell over. “Hey, watch where you’re-!” 

His voice dropped and his stomach felt like it sank all the way to his shoes. Standing in front of him was one of the most beautiful men he had ever seen. The stranger had a fluffy mop of black hair, some form of a beard on his face, and glasses over his deep brown eyes. This man appeared to be at least a little bit Asian, maybe Korean, and his skin seemed to glow. The red flannel he was wearing looked too good on him to be legal, and Jack was so jealous he couldn’t pull off a flannel like that.

The worst part was, Jack knew exactly why he felt the way he did. As soon as the stranger had locked eyes with him, the colors of everything around him seemed to be a million times brighter. Jack’s sneaking suspicion had been confirmed when the strange man seemed to look at him like he was seeing a ghost.

“Jack?” When the stranger spoke, puzzle pieces fell into place in Jack’s brain and his stomach seemed to be dropping to the farthest depths of purgatory right now. He knew that voice, almost better than he knew anyone else.

“Mark.” He was practically breathless. 

“You see it too, don’t you.”

“Yeah.

“So you know what this means, then.”

Jack could only muster a feeble nod. Mark took a step forward and wrapped his burly arms around the only slightly smaller man and Jack could feel himself melting with every second the hug lasted. In hope or reckless abandon, Mark whispered next to Jack’s ear.

“Can I kiss you?” Jack froze. His friend for years, who he had never seen before in his entire life until now, and come to find out the fucker was his soulmate, had just asked to  _ kiss _ him. Every nerve in Jack’s entire being was drawn to Mark and wanted him closer, but his brain was screaming at him not to do this. Jack’s hands found their way to the collar of Mark’s flannel and pulled Mark down to meet his lips.  _ No! _ His brain was reeling.  _ This is wrong! He’s your friend! _

Mark had his hands comfortably resting on Jack’s hips and Jack gripped the flannel collar like his life depended on it. The kiss was soft and tender, hesitant to ruin their preexisting relationship with one wrong move. When it was said and done, Mark had the biggest smile across his face. “I’m so glad it’s you,

The Irishman couldn’t help but smile as he took Mark’s hand in his. “Me too.”

As they walked out of the airport together, hand in hand, Jack couldn’t stop staring at the color swirling around him. Everyday, mundane things had become fascinating after finding Mark, his  _ soulmate _ , a concept Jack was only barely beginning to come to terms with. His head was reeling with the new discovery. He stole a glance over at Mark, who seemed to be looking at the same time. Mark flashed him the biggest, most beautiful smile Jack had ever seen in his entire life. Jack just smiled again and felt Mark give his hand a gentle squeeze. It felt almost as though warmth spread throughout his entire body.

  
_ No.  _ Jack thought.  _ This is right. _

**Author's Note:**

> Hi I'm back with another Septiplier one shot. If you're wondering what's up with Come Back To Me, UPDATES ARE COMING don't worry. I'm almost done writing the next chapter and I'll try to keep a consistent update schedule once that gets up.


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